Enhanced movie extras on Comcast X1
December 19, 2016
Cable MSO Comcast is teaming up with Universal Pictures Home Entertainment, Lionsgate, Paramount Home Media Distribution and Sony Pictures Home Entertainment to introduce enhanced movie extras, a new home entertainment offering on Xfinity X1 that paves the way for fans to explore, connect and engage with a wide variety of online content, all while watching a film.
Led by Comcast, Universal and major studio partners, enhanced extras combine the power of the X1 platform with a new technology standard developed by MovieLabs and its studios partners. Accessible with the digital purchase of participating titles, the offering combines technology and content to enable dynamic, interactive, and contextually-integrated Internet content directly within the movie-watching experience. In addition to the interactive experiences, enhanced extras will also include photo galleries and video clips that contextually update as the movie plays, allowing viewers to browse and enjoy content relevant to specific moments in the film.
“We’re excited to work with these studios on this ground-breaking innovation to redefine the home entertainment movie-watching experience,” Daniel Spinosa, General Manager of Movies, Pay-Per-View and Commerce, Comcast Cable. “X1 is an immersive, dynamic platform that enables us to continually provide our customers with one-of-a-kind experiences, and we are actively working with our programming partners to deliver next-generation, enhanced entertainment experiences for all content including movies, events, sports, and news.”
To celebrate the launch, Comcast is offering a free 10-day sample of enhanced movie extras from December 16 – December 25. During this ten-day window, customers will have free access to 16 online interactive experiences- such as games, maps, 360-degree maps and set tours – available directly on the TV from films such as Secret Life of Pets, Jason Bourne, Mockingjay Part 2, Star Trek Beyond, Hotel Transylvania 2, Underworld, Nerve and Warcraft.
“Together with Comcast and our industry partners, our efforts to significantly enrich the benefits of digital movie ownership and grow our industry have resulted in what we believe to be a truly vibrant, ever-evolving next-generation consumer offering,” said Michael Aaronson, SVP, Digital Distribution, Universal Pictures Home Entertainment. “We are optimistic that collectively we can inspire broad adoption across the digital landscape and usher in a new category of entertainment.”
“These experiences are highly produced, engaging and employ the latest technology to bring the content to life on Xfinity in a manner fans haven’t seen before,” said Thomas Hughes, Executive Vice President, Worldwide Digital Distribution for Lionsgate. “Building a collection of their favourite films with enhanced content that can be enjoyed seamlessly in their living rooms offers even more value to the Comcast customer.”
“We are excited to offer consumers a new interactive experience on some of our most popular films,” said Tripp Wood, SVP, Digital Sales and Distribution, Paramount Home Media Distribution. “Features such as the Scene Peeler on Star Trek Beyond give viewers an inside look at the visual effects process by allowing them to check out scenes from pre-vis through to the final version within the movie itself. This kind of immersive feature enhances the viewing experience and gives fans a deeper appreciation of the filmmaking process.”
“It is great to see Comcast adopt our open, industry standard to deliver innovative interactive experiences with our movies, like the Hotel Transylvania 2 Monster Mixology memory game,” said Richard Berger, Senior VP, Digital Strategy and Advanced Platforms at Sony Pictures Home Entertainment.
Features will evolve and vary by title, and Comcast expects to add more studios and movies into 2017.